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Aquitaine
Overview of Aquitaine A growing frontier driven state, this nation has been decidedly neutral in the conflicts of recent years. It maintains its national ideology and its population through practices as old as humanity's first thoughts on the idea of "something greater than itself" moving the machinations of the universe. However, its beliefs do not seem to overly hinder its pursuit of modernization after a long era of living as a political and economic backwater at the hands of an extremely violent and inefficient nobility in the various entities that used to make up what would become the nation of Aquitaine (For more read History). The geography and sights of Aquitaine do not very to a great extreme. The northern and central plains are a vast expanse of open steppe as well as large ranches of horses, cattle, and other animals. The end of the plains and valleys in the south are characterized by the frontier villages and settlements of farming communities. These plains meet the arid southern hills and mountains that slope down on the other side to where Aquitaine's few small ports exist aside its shining white sand beaches. There is one common sight over all but the most southern frontiers, the castle. Many large earthen fortresses and gloomy stone castles still remain from Aquitaine's old rulers which have either been taken by the Directorate or procured by private citizens. One or two are still rumored to be owned by descendants of the old rulers but no one would ever openly admit to that. Directorate National Factbook Entry Current State of the Nation International Relations: *Aggressive Behavior (On a scale of Switzerland to Mongol Empire) - Argentina *Settler Expansion (On a scale of Monaco to America) - Canada *Pact/IGO Membership (On a scale of Sealand to France) - Sealand *Current Wars - War of the Himalayan Annex *Past Wars - The European Tsarist Conflagration Directorate: *Contented Directors - No. 2, No. 6, No. 5, No. 7, No. 8 *Worried Directors - No. 1 *Panicked Directors - No. 4 *Missing Directors - No. 10, No. 3 *Insane Directors - No. 9 *President - MIA The People: Contented A (Very) Recent History Aquitaine was not always a Directorate or even terribly organized since birth. The nation was recently forged from a series of petty fiefdoms and dangerous warring kingdoms which were filled with superstitious and often absent nobility who seemed prone to extra judicial killings without any cause for explanation. The nation that would be Aquitaine was only brought together by two events from this mesh of locales. The first was revolution of Prester John, a local priest of an obscure religion little known to the locals, managed to break the will and bones of the nobility of the region. The revolutionary council that rose from the strife against the various injustices and mismanagement by the nobility of the would be realm became extremely harsh as it sought to stay in control of a very fractured and broken nation after the war completed and Aquitaine formed. Eventually this cut down on the democratic and free principles the nation was founded on. Before long Prester John disappeared into the night of obscurity once again only to be talked of like a myth by the new citizens of Aquitaine as a ruling Directorate was formed by the leading members of parliament, dissolving the rest of the assembly due to dire circumstances. While this could have just ended with a Dictatorship of a small group returning to the status quo of before the war, and to some degree it did, the situation grew more stable but the government stranger. It began holding to strange new calendars and hours in the day for government business, some days not meeting for unexplained reasons as weekends for the government were unheard of, only “Improper conditions” preventing its work eventually revealed as such strange requirements as star positioning and weather. Soon strange restrictions were leveled on items of the oddest variety. Even certain metals were banned from everyday use as the government considered them necessary for the functioning of the state. This may have to do with what is assumed to be the second event that brought together the national unity of Aquitaine and its revolutionaries keeping them from fracturing by fear. The loss of the fortress town of Erz. The city was littered with husks and thousands of citizens seemed to have simply vanished when formations of revolutionary troops came to relieve the town of a siege. What caused the death of so many was unknown but it was posted on every wall of Aquitaine that it was a noble plot using an insidious weapon designed to kill every man woman and child as punishment for revolting and only by firm solidarity could they prevent espionage or attacks like this again. So, the nation now lives in a more peaceful if bizarrely governed semi-dictatorship who’s citizens are confused as to who they are and what they are meant to believe in anymore. Yet, a great unspoken fear underlies it all as many would rather live by the bizarre dictates of the government than return to what happened before. However… There are some who wish for the brief republic under the revolution of Prester John remembering the unlimited freedom they had for such a short time. Perhaps there are groups in the back rooms of the old revolutionary sites even now discussing, maybe, just maybe, that they could do it again. Just like Prester John would have had it. As the serfs and free men would have had it. But as time has worn on the ideas fade and so do memories. These thoughts may not have much longer to live as a sense of comfort starts to pervades with the Directorate. Category:Nation Category:Nation Builder